The Reluctant First Lady (33 page)

“How dare you talk to me like that?” Ashley stood up. “Damn you for being so blasted arrogant.”

“But, my dear, isn’t that one of the very traits you so admired in me when we first met?”

“You’re being unreasonable. I came here of my own free will.”

“I’d hardly call me giving specific instructions to bring you directly to Washington coming here of your free will. Sit down and start talking.”

“I was deluded into thinking I’d found a possible solution for the two of us. I don’t want to be around you for another second, let alone try to live here with you. I’m leaving.”

Michael heard what she’d said; she was talking about living here with him. He factored her words into how he would proceed. “Ashley, I’m warning you. I’ve repeatedly asked you to sit down. You’re on my turf now, and if I so choose, I could see to it that you don’t leave until I’m good and ready for you to leave. Remember, here in the White House, people actually want to please me.”

“You’re behaving like a barbarian. All this power has gone to your head. Believe me, I could get out of here if I wanted. There’s no way in hell you can keep me here against my will.”

An arm snaked around her waist and pulled her back, lifting her off her feet.

“I told you to sit down, and if I have to, I’ll sit on you. Quit struggling and decide how you’d like the rest of our conversation to go. I think you’d find it a lot easier to talk if I weren’t sitting on you.”

Damn his stubborn hide. If he actually sat on her or held her down, there’d be no chance of escape. She needed to act like she was being somewhat reasonable. “All right, I’ll sit, but don’t think I’m going to forget your brutish behavior.”

“That just worries me to death, Ash. I didn’t like you taking off in the dead of night for God knows where either or your being accosted at your cabin getaway. Do you know how scared I was? To think some man actually touched you and threatened you. How would you feel if the same thing happened to Juliette? Or imagine, if you can, that Jeremy decided to ditch his Secret Service agents, and you were left wringing your hands about where he was, wondering whether he was safe or not or if someone had masterminded his disappearance and he was in the hands of someone who could harm or kill him. Can you imagine that? Just think about how you would react.”

Michael couldn’t have painted a stronger picture or a better example than using their children to make her see what she’d put him through. Her children meant everything to her. She’d always feared if anything were to happen to one of them she might never recover. When Ashley loved, she loved completely and forever.

Michael watched his wife. She was calming down a bit. Mentioning the kids had affected her like a sedative, replacing her fury with reflection.

“Now maybe you understand some of what I’ve been going through. I want to know exactly what happened, why you felt you needed to do what you did. I don’t think that’s unreasonable. Now start from the beginning.” Michael leaned back in his chair to appear more relaxed, but he was ready to grab his wife at the slightest indication that she was going to bolt again.

Ashley let out a long sigh and began speaking in a monotone. Michael didn’t care how deflated she was behaving; she needed to understand the consequences of her actions. Plus, with Ashley, her behavior could be an act to make him let his guard down.

“During your campaign for the presidency, I constantly tried to figure out if you were elected how we could solve the dilemma of us living in different cities. It never seemed as though there was a viable solution to our problem, at least not one I felt I could live with. Then, when Ted had his accident and it looked like he might not recover, I realized I couldn’t step into his shoes at the Washington museum; I would always feel like I’d used his tragedy for my gain. However, as Ted has fought so hard to regain mobility and his speech, I realized he could, with time, make close to a full recovery. I tried to think about how I could help him. I knew that in order to get some time for myself, I would have to get away from everyone and everything. I needed time to just sit and think. I mean really alone. No bodyguards, no job demands, nobody around me, just me and my brain working through a problem to find a solution. So, I talked to a friend who I knew had a cabin in Ludlow, Vermont. This friend . . .”

“You don’t have to protect Steve. We know it was his cabin. After all, the Secret Service agents did find you there.”

“I’d like to know how they found me.”

“I don’t think they’ll ever tell you. They were furious that you gave the slip to the night watch. They took the whole ordeal very personally. You’re their responsibility, and even if they don’t show it, I have firsthand knowledge that they’re both quite attached to you. Go on. Go back to your story.”

“Anyway, I talked to Steve about using his cabin and why I wanted to get away. He could see how distressed I was about the situation between the two of us and the situation with Ted, so he was glad he could help. He didn’t have anything to do with the escape plan; that was all my doing. I wasn’t sure when, or if, I might actually do it, but I prepared everything for the possibility.

“Then on the night of the open house, Robert’s son had a heart attack, and I realized life is too short not to be with the people you love. No job was as important as my family. I decided after the open house I’d put my plan into action, and you pretty well know the rest.”

“Actually, I don’t. Were you planning to tell me you went to Carruthers’s house alone?”

“I didn’t go alone. My Secret Service agents were with me.”

“Right, and you never left their sight?”

“Not that I can think of,” Ashley lied.

“I think you should tell me what happened at the open house. I know about the scene in the den.” Ashley was trying to figure out what to say about that. Matt and Dave had only seen the incident involving one glass sculpture. They didn’t know anything about what had happened between her and Geoffrey before they entered the room. If she told Michael the whole truth, he would better understand how the two events, Robert’s son having a heart attack and the awful scene with Geoffrey, had contributed to her need to get away and think though a solution to their living arrangements. But if she told him about Geoffrey kissing her, God only knew what he might do. A half-truth would suffice.

“There was a scene in the den. I was there with Mr. Carruthers because I was nursing a headache and wanted to get away from the crowd of people. He offered to show me some of his more valuable art collection, which he houses in his den.”

“Didn’t his suggestion reek of the old come-on line, ‘Come up to my place and I’ll show you my etchings’?”

“No, it didn’t. I was already at the party. The place was full of people, including the Secret Service. I had a headache, and I didn’t think there would be any harm in stepping into the next room. Once I did, it wasn’t long before I figured out Mr. Carruthers thought there was more between us than business dealings. I was insulted that he was so presumptuous, so to put him in his place, I threw the sculpture at his fireplace and it broke. That’s what Matt and Dave saw.”

“You destroyed a piece of art because you thought Geoffrey might be assuming there was more between you than just business?”

“Yes.”

“And he didn’t make a pass at you?”

“None that I couldn’t handle.”

Michael was furious. He would deal with Geoffrey Carruthers in his own way. “You wouldn’t have had to handle anything if you had listened to me. I told you to stay away from him.”

“The open house was a commitment and responsibility for my job, and I take my responsibilities very seriously. I would have preferred to have had Robert with me; unfortunately that wasn’t possible.

“When I thought about Robert’s son, Ted’s accident, and the incident with Carruthers, I realized everything I was worried about regarding us being apart seemed to be coming to fruition. I decided right then to put my plan into action.”

“Humor me. Tell me how you managed the whole escape thing, if you don’t mind.”

Ashley began speaking again, telling him of her plan, the escape, each step that led her to Vermont, but this time there was a little more life in her voice, like she enjoyed telling this part of the story.

Michael watched his wife wind down from telling the story. What she’d just told him seemed completely reasonable to her. She wasn’t aware of the hell she’d put him through.

“Ashley, you do know I was still in Europe the night you took off?”

“Yes, and I knew you’d be flying home the next day. I knew I wouldn’t upset your trip.”

“Were you aware for a few hours we all thought that your disappearance might have been staged to look like you planned it but in fact you’d been kidnapped?”

“But I left a message with Mavis.”

“Which we didn’t get for several hours after you were reported missing. Thank God it occurred to Mavis to check her voice mail.”

“Michael, I’m sorry I scared you.”

“You’re sorry you scared me? That’s it? Must I remind you again how you’d feel if one of the kids had pulled this stunt instead of you?”

“I don’t know what else to say. I wasn’t trying to be thoughtless or mean. I felt the end justified the means.”

“And do you also realize the man that attacked you today . . .”

“Michael, I wouldn’t exactly call it an attack.”

“What would you call it? You told the agents he grabbed you and wouldn’t let go when you tried to enter the house and that he threatened you.”

“I can’t begin to know what he was thinking, but I recognized him as the photographer who has snapped my picture a couple of times. I guess I thought the paparazzi had gone too far. It wasn’t until he grabbed me and said he could get to me any time he wanted that I begin to worry. Although, at the time, I was damn good and mad and wanted to rip him apart.”

Michael stood up and pulled Ashley out of her chair. He hugged her and held her close, smelling her perfumed hair. Thank God nothing more had happened to her. What she had done was reckless and selfish and wrong in every way, but he doubted very much she would ever completely see it that way.

Michael didn’t say anything. He looked at his wife, taking in her beauty and the sincerity on her face. As smart as she was, sometimes she didn’t have a clue. She’d explained how she’d managed the whole affair; still, she hadn’t said what it was she’d figured out at the cabin, although he had to admit, he hadn’t been ready to hear anything except an explanation for her behavior until now.

“Was scaring me to death worth it?”

“That all depends. I think I came up with a pretty good solution for our current dilemma.”

When Michael didn’t say anything, she presumed he was waiting for her to go on.

“As I said, I’ve been trying to figure out a way for us to be together without either one of us losing. When I was at the cabin, I made a list of possible solutions, and I have an idea I think might work.”

“I’m all ears.”

“The solution only has to do with our living arrangements. I’m still not interested in being involved in politics in any way. I’ve already talked to Robert, and I have his complete support. I suggested that while Ted is recuperating I run both the New York and Washington museums with the help of Max and Elise. Elise is Max’s counterpart at the Washington museum. Each can act on my behalf when I’m at the other museum. I could alternate my work locations weekly. With all of the technology available now, it’s easy to conduct business from almost anywhere.”

Michael was thrilled, but he was still angry at Ashley’s blatant disregard for her safety. He needed to think. “I need a drink. Would you like something?”

“Just a glass of water, please.”

Michael walked into the kitchen and got out a beer and poured a glass of water for Ashley. She’d put him through hell, but now she was willing to take the lead at both the New York and the Washington museums, at least while Ted recuperated. That meant she was willing to live in Washington with him part time. A person could get whiplash from her contradictory moves. He walked back into the bedroom and handed Ashley her water before he sat down.

“Is that all of it?”

“Well, there are a few more contingencies.”

“Uh-huh, somehow I thought there might be.”

“I want you to know up-front that I mean it when I say I’m not going to have anything to do with politics. I’m not interested in being the First Lady. As much as I can’t stand Paula personally, the job seems to be working fine although I do intend to have lunch or coffee with her and let her know she’d better keep her eyes glued to her own husband and off mine. If I have to, I’ll have a talk with Connor too. Bet she’d hate that. Anyway, don’t you think for one minute that you’re going to talk me out of that little conversation.

“I mean it. No politics. I don’t want to attend state dinners or fly overseas with you unless it’s a vacation. I still expect Paula to fulfill the duties she was hired for. I’m merely dividing my time between New York and Washington to be with you. I don’t want you to think you can ease me into some of your political activities. You can’t. I won’t get involved in that world. In fact, if you start hammering away at me to get involved, I’ll move out and get my own place here in Washington.”

“Wouldn’t that be another terrific media circus? Is there anything else?” Michael asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Sort of. I’d like someplace around here to fix up as my home office, and I don’t want an office in the White House. I want something private in our own apartment. Do you think you can agree to all of that?”

“First I never thought I’d see the day when you’d willingly give working at the Washington museum a chance, but then none of us could have anticipated Ted’s horrible accident. That in itself is beyond tragic; I’m glad to hear there’s hope for his future. Plus, I know you. You’re trying to encourage Robert to keep Ted’s job available for him until the doctors can predict with more accuracy whether he’ll be able to return to work. That’s very admirable.

“And while I still haven’t forgiven you for scaring me to death, I’m trying to understand why you thought you had to go to such extremes to make this decision. But I accept your terms and love you for caring so much about Ted’s situation and our relationship to take on such an enormous workload. It’s going to be rough, Ashley.